Professional Development Activities:
College coursework, conference (to include workshops or seminars) and a wide variety of educational activities are acceptable for meeting professional development expectations. Educational activities such as action research, grant writing, mentoring, presentations at conferences, publishing articles, etc. may be considered when developing and implementing one's IPDP.
Licenses renewed under Ohio Standards require a minimum of 6 semester hours of appropriate coursework related to teaching and/or the area of the license. Any combination of semester hours and clock hours that equals 6 semester hours (180 clock hours) is acceptable (as shown below).
1 Clock Hour = 1 PDU or 0.1 CEU
1 Semester Hour = 30 Clock Hours
- COLLEGE COURSEWORK does not need prior approval if it is from an ODE accredited provider of 4-year colleges or universities and is aligned with your approved IPDP. Submit official and/or copies of transcripts and Form 4 to the LPDC.
- CONFERENCES (to include workshops or seminars): Do not need prior approval if the provider is on the Approved Providers List. If the provider is NOT on the Approved Providers List, a request for pre-approval (Form 3B) may be submitted. After attending the conference, a Certificate of Attendance and Form 4 must be submitted to the LPDC. An agenda alone is not a Certificate of Attendance.
- EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES must have prior approval (Form 3A) by the LPDC to ensure credit. Clock Hours will be awarded by the LPDC upon receipt of a confirmation of successful completion of the educational activity. Upon completion of the activity, submit Form 5A and Form 5B with documentation of completion confirmed by the signature of an immediate supervisor. Any licensed employee may personally present an educational activity proposal by requesting an appointment at a regularly scheduled monthly LPDC meeting. Educational activities are professional development opportunities that fall outside of an employee's assigned responsibilities. The maximum credit available for each educational activity is 60 contact hours over the period of the license renewal. An educational activity may occur within one school year or across a number of years. If modifications to an educational activity are necessary, they should be submitted in writing to the LPDC by the 10th of the month for consideration at the next scheduled meeting. Deviations from the original proposal may result in a change of the clock hours granted for the project/activity. Educational activities started prior to approval of the proposal are not guaranteed approval. The committee strongly recommends pre-approval of all Educational Activities to assist the applicant in her/his professional development planning.
- New Employees of the LCESC may submit for approval professional development activities that have been approved by other LPDC's. It is the responsibility of new employees to request documentation of professional development from their former LPDC. (Use the Approval Verification Form for Educators Leaving an LPDC or an equivalent form provided by the former LPDC.)
College Coursework, conference attendance, and educational activities must be relevant to an approved IPDP. Professional activities completed and verified since the date of the last issuance of the applicant's certificate/license will be reviewed for approval.